After waiting a moment for the searing pain to subside, Chen Xiao reviewed what he had done well and poorly in the battle, then entered the virtual battlefield again.
This time, his opponent changed tactics again.
They traded fifteen head-on blows, every punch striking flesh, every move colliding directly. As the fifteenth punch landed, Chen Xiao's wrist shattered, and his heart was pulverized by the impact. He died on the spot.
His eyes snapped open, his face white as paper, his pupils filled with bewilderment. "Strange... our stats were exactly the same. Why were his punches heavier and fiercer?"
"No... it wasn't that his fists were harder. His force was more concentrated. My strength was scattered and weak, like a handful of sand I couldn't grip tightly or pack solid."
He closed his eyes and recalled the details of their exchanges, going over them repeatedly until he finally pinpointed the reason for his defeat.
But that raised a problem: techniques such as joint locks could be observed, imitated, and practiced diligently. But where could he begin learning that force that penetrated through the fist, struck like metal, and shattered everything in its path?
After a long silence spent in thought, he did not open the virtual battlefield again.
In his eyes, the middle-aged opponent in easy mode was no longer merely a data model. He was clearly a ruthless fighter steeped in close-quarters combat for years, his every punch and kick brimming with seasoned skill tempered in blood and fire.
Without finding a way to counter that concentrated punching force, going back in would merely add another death.
Besides, although the three consecutive battles had lasted only a few minutes, they had drained most of his mental focus and energy.
Inside the aircraft cabin, Wolverine and the others sat quietly, regulating their breathing.
Shadowcat was softly comforting the Mutant children, while no one dared approach the Devil Mutant, who was wreathed in a heavy stench of blood, her killing intent almost spilling out of her body.
She paid that no mind. Cradling the long blade that gleamed with a chilling light, she sat curled up beside Chen Xiao, her gaze vacant, though a vicious crimson surged in the depths of her eyes from time to time.
"Are you... all right?"
As Chen Xiao repeatedly mulled over the lessons of his three deaths, the girl beside him raised her head slightly, a trace of hesitant concern passing through her dark red eyes.
"...I'm fine." Chen Xiao paused before answering quietly.
His words drew the others' attention, however, and several gazes turned toward him at once, Wolverine's among them.
Chen Xiao gave a slight nod and turned to Logan. "Mr. Logan, I've heard several teachers mention that you've fought countless life-and-death battles, and your close-combat experience ranks among the very best."
Logan was briefly taken aback. Though he did not understand what Chen Xiao meant, he nodded. "My abilities aren't particularly outstanding at this school. I've just been in more fights."
"You're too modest."
After that brief compliment, Chen Xiao went straight to the point. "Mr. Logan, do you know how to draw all the strength in your body together and pour it into a single punch?"
"Draw it together? Strength?" Logan frowned. "Strength" was intangible to begin with, merely a rough description of the human body's potential, not a physical substance.
Chen Xiao gestured to illustrate. "When you throw a punch, the force feels like forged steel: heavy, solid, sharp, far beyond an ordinary exertion of strength."
Logan understood at once. "Oh, you mean 'trained force.'"
"Trained force!"
Logan nodded. "That's right. The term comes from Eastern fighting systems."
"As you know, I rely on my healing and steel claws. Over the years, as I traveled around, I deliberately studied quite a few close-combat techniques."
"Compared with our broad, sweeping Western fighting styles, Eastern martial arts place more emphasis on skillful force and restraint. Karate, taekwondo, Muay Thai-they all stress that."
"But the true pinnacle is still the ancient martial arts of Xia Country, like Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and Xingyi... train deeply enough, and you can develop 'jin,' with astonishing power."
"Of course, that 'astonishing' only applies within the limits of ordinary people."
"I once visited Xia Country and sparred with several old martial artists who were unknown but had solid skills. They had already mastered jin thoroughly."
"Without using my extraordinary abilities, I couldn't beat them at all."
"But once I showed my true strength, they couldn't fight back."
"Simply put, what the East calls 'trained force' means using the mind to command strength, focusing the spirit and condensing qi, connecting every limb and bone, and finally gathering the entire body's strength into a torrent that erupts all at once."
"Strength connected throughout the entire body!" Chen Xiao's heart jolted.
"Exactly."
Logan continued, "When ordinary people punch, they can only use the strength of the arm itself at most, roughly one-tenth of their total strength."
"Someone with systematic training can coordinate their upper body to produce force, reaching around thirty percent."
"Top fighters go a step further. With the spine as the axis and the waist and hips as the pivot, they can draw on some lower-body strength as well, unleashing fifty to sixty percent of their entire body's force in one punch. An ordinary person struck by it would be injured or crippled."
"But those Eastern martial artists who have developed 'trained force' can already channel force throughout their bodies, unleashing their full potential with every punch."
"People like that can handle a dozen strong men single-handedly without any trouble. Among ordinary people, they're true masters."
Because Chen Xiao's performance that night had made him see the boy in a new light, Logan explained in particular detail.
"So that's how it works..."
Chen Xiao finally understood why, despite having the same stats as the middle-aged man, every exchange of punches left him feeling as though his strength had been scattered by a single blow, his fist bones numb and his knuckles stinging.
Guide qi with intent, move strength with qi, channel strength throughout the body... only with an iron will and perseverance can trained force be achieved. He silently recited the essentials of the martial principles Logan had taught him.
Two hours later, the Blackbird crossed the entire United States and landed steadily in the underground base of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Professor X sat upright in his wheelchair, quietly awaiting their return.
When the cabin door opened and he saw that everyone who had set out had returned unharmed, a gratified smile appeared on his face. "Welcome home. Thank you all for your hard work."
Beside the professor, two doctors and several caregivers were already standing by.
As the Mutant children disembarked one after another, the doctors immediately approached, ready to perform routine physical examinations.
The children instantly huddled together in fear, hiding behind Logan and the others. The horned Mutant tensed all over, killing intent and wariness pouring from her.
Shadowcat hurriedly raised her voice to explain, "Don't be afraid! The man in the middle is the headmaster, and these people beside him are the school doctors. They just want to check your health."
Chen Xiao spoke as well, his voice steady and gentle. "Don't be afraid. No one here will lay a finger on you."
Under the patient reassurance of Chen Xiao and the others, the Mutant children gradually relaxed their tense shoulders, and the panic in their eyes slowly faded.
Next, they would enter a period of recovery involving both physical care and psychological counseling. The longer cases would take half a month, while the shorter ones could reach an initial state of stability in three or four days.
After all, these children had been imprisoned in a laboratory, subjected to all kinds of inhuman experiments. Repeated physical abuse and unrelenting mental pressure had long since left them covered in wounds.
Fortunately, after years of handling similar cases, the school already had a mature, thorough intervention process.
But these subsequent arrangements were no longer Chen Xiao's responsibility. Once the mission ended, Professor X told them to return to their dorms and rest. Everything else would be discussed tomorrow.
Back in his room, Chen Xiao did not lie down. Instead, he took out the hard drive containing the research institute's data and connected it to his laptop.
He was indeed intensely interested in these materials.
As far as he knew, the origins of Mutants could be traced back to the Celestials. These ancient visitors had descended upon Earth in antiquity and genetically modified its native inhabitants.
A recessive X-Gene had been quietly implanted into the subjects of those experiments. It could be passed down through generations and was the source of all Mutant abilities.
But beyond that, Chen Xiao knew nothing.
The computer started, and the programs finished loading.
He opened the hard drive, and dozens of folders appeared in neat rows on the screen.
The contents were all experimental output from that research institute, logically divided into four categories: subject identity files, experimental procedure records, summaries of interim results, and theoretical models extrapolated from the data.
Chen Xiao opened the "Subject identity information" folder, and faces appeared one after another, several dozen in all.
Several belonged to the children they had just rescued.
The number made Chen Xiao's pupils contract slightly.
Clearly, the other subjects who were nowhere to be seen had died during the experiments.
He moved the mouse and browsed page by page until he scrolled to the very end,
A girl's portrait settled in the center of the screen: a pair of small crimson horns five centimeters long grew from her forehead, her hair was blood-red, and her gaze was piercing. Dressed in a sharply tailored black suit, she had an unapproachable edge to her features.
With a click of the mouse, her information appeared:
Name: Itire Silk Greya Age: 15 Codename: Devil Ability one: Rakshasa Instant Kill. Upon activation, movement speed and strength simultaneously increase more than tenfold, sufficient to kill in a single strike. This ability can be activated repeatedly at high frequency. The highest recorded number of consecutive bursts is twenty-five. Ability two: Blade's Power. Innately proficient in the use of all types of cold weapons, and capable of independently enhancing weapons, granting them extreme sharpness that cuts through iron like mud. Ability three: Primary ability-Plunder. After killing a target, she can absorb a portion of their vital essence (blood qi) to enhance her combat strength and survivability. The upper limit of this enhancement cannot currently be measured. Note: Due to the extreme danger of her primary ability and the difficulty of controlling it, it has now been sealed on a long-term basis. Brief history: September 2005: The organization received a report that the daughter of an underground gang leader in Violet City, Britain, had suddenly mutated. Overnight, her hair turned red, and horns grew on her forehead. The organization acted immediately, wiped out the gang, and took her into custody. November 23, 2005: Following multiple experiments, "Devil" lost control and went berserk, tearing Professor Maitel into several pieces on the spot. She was only barely subdued after being injected with twenty times the standard anesthetic dose. November 25: Three people died at her hands. Ultralow-temperature gas introduced through the ventilation system, combined with fifty times the standard anesthetic dose, subdued her again. November 30: A second rampage resulted in the deaths of three researchers and five armed personnel. Anesthetics proved completely ineffective. Only the personal intervention of the adjudicator stationed on-site subdued her. In view of the breakthrough developments in her genes, specially manufactured Adamantium fusion chains were used to confine her in isolation cell 0, pending further research.
At this point, Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow. "What exactly does this so-called 'breakthrough development' mean?"
But the file ended abruptly there.
"And that adjudicator... was that the Mutant Colossus and the others killed? Or someone else? Anyone who could suppress 'Devil' with one hand was certainly no ordinary fighter."
"It looks like there's an extremely difficult force hidden behind this research institute."